2. Indianapolis Colts vs. New England Patriots
Even though the first meeting with the Indianapolis Colts, who were in Baltimore at the time, and New England Patriots first took place in 1970, there was no better time in the rivalry than the days in which Peyton Manning and Tom Brady faced one another.
Unfortunately for Manning, it was Brady that would win the first six meetings of this rivalry that officially started in 2001 when both teams happened to be part of the old AFC East.
Little did they know at the time (or maybe they did) that this would go on to be one of the greatest rivalries of all-time, especially when looking at all the times these two happened to meet when it mattered the most in the playoffs.
After failing to defeat Brady and the Patriots during their first two meetings in the playoffs, Manning and the Colts would finally come through in 2007 before going on to win the Super Bowl over the Chicago Bears.
Back in the 2000s, it almost seemed like a guarantee that Indianapolis or New England would be standing in the way of any AFC team trying to reach the Super Bowl, mainly because of Manning and Brady.
So with this in mind, it’s no wonder each battle between the Colts and Patriots usually resulted in an epic showdown.